US wildfires: California fire prompts evacuations; Oregon blaze balloons

Firefighters battle the Tamarack Fire in the Markleeville community of Alpine County SAN FRANCISCO (California, US), July 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A rapidly growing wildfire south of Lake Tahoe forced the evacuation of a mountain town and the cancellation of an extreme bike ride through the Sierra Nevada, leaving thousands of…

Covid-19: EU says vaccine rate now higher than in US

       BRUSSELS, July 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — European Union leaders celebrated their coronavirus vaccination programme reaching a higher proportion of its people than in the US, which had outpaced the bloc for months. “We promised it and it’s done. The EU this week overtook the US as the continent with the…

Health emergency operations center activated in south Nigeria following cholera outbreak; 7 dead

ABUJA, July 18 (NNN-Xinhua) — A health emergency operations center was activated in south Nigeria’s Enugu State, following an outbreak of cholera that has killed seven, health authorities of the state said. Surveillance, contact tracing and risk assessment have also started in a local livestock market where the life-threatening and…

Update: German Chancellor Merkel to visit flood zone as western Europe death toll tops 170

       BERLIN, July 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Chancellor Angela Merkel visited flood-ravaged areas in Germany on Sunday to survey the damage and meet survivors, after days of extreme rainfall in western Europe left at least 171 people dead and dozens missing. Merkel is scheduled to travel to the village of Schuld…

Wounded widow of Haiti’s slain president returns home: official

PORT-AU-PRINCE, July 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The widow of Haiti’s slain president Jovenel Moise returned home Saturday after being treated in Florida for wounds she suffered in the attack, an official said. Martine Moise, 47, with her right arm in a sling and wearing a bullet proof vest, was received at…

US shooting: 4 people shot outside Washington baseball stadium

Fans rush to evacuate after hearing gunfire, during a baseball game in Washiington’s National Stadium WASHINGTON, July 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Four people were shot outside a baseball stadium crowded with thousands of spectators in the US capital on Saturday, causing the game to be abruptly halted as fans were ushered…

Update: South Africa shuts beaches, probes sea pollution following chemical spill after riots

 DURBAN (South Africa), July 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — South African authorities said they were investigating possible pollution suspected to be linked to a spill at a chemical plant attacked during last week’s riots after dead fish washed ashore. The spill was identified on Thursday after an agrochemical warehouse near the eastern…

Covid-19: Senegal’s bus operator suspends intercity services amid virus surge

            DAKAR, July 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Senegal’s national bus operator announced that it will suspend intercity transport due to a recent surge in Covid-19 infections in the West African country. Bus routes between cities will stop running from Sunday, operator Dakar Dem Dikk said in a statement. It…

Covid-19: France to require negative coronavirus test within 24 hours for some European arrivals

PARIS, July 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France said it would require people not fully vaccinated and arriving from some European countries to show a negative Covid test taken within the previous 24 hours.Arrivals from the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece and the Netherlands will be subject to the new rule,…

Covid-19: UK maintains mandatory quarantine for vaccinated travellers from France

Persons arriving from France will have to quarantine for five to ten days LONDON, July 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain said that it was scrapping a planned easing of coronavirus rules for travellers from France, which had been due to take effect on Monday, because of the continued presence of the…